Jacob Sharff, wheelchair mechanic

You can read the original article here at www.melangeandco.com

While the top junior wheelchair singles and doubles tennis players in the world battle it out on court in the US Open Junior Wheelchair Championships in New York, a very attentive man sits in a wheelchair nearby with a large black toolbox on his lap. Jacob Sharff, the wheelchair mechanic and owner of How I Roll Sports: Adaptive Sports Equipment for Adaptive Athletes waits to be summoned by walkie talkie to courts where wheelchair matches are taking place. When he is called, the clock begins ticking. “I have 15 minutes to make a repair or the player has to default.”

Sharff proudly reports that he can fix a flat tire in 4 minutes. “That would give me 11 minutes if something else happens.” Sharff humbly reports, “My biggest worry is that I won’t be able to make the repair.” 

This has happened in past US Opens—when the top men and women players in two divisions—wheelchairs and quads—were also in town for the competition. This year, and every four years when the Paralympics take place, the US Open wheelchairs tournament takes a year off–though the prize money for those who would have participated is shared to help cover costs of travel and lodging.

Scharff laments an incident last year in the adult competition when a man in the quads division’s backrest post “cracked in half.” He reports sadly, “I couldn’t fix it—there were no parts.”

Sharff playfully reports, “I know how a firefighter must feel—we are either a hero or that guy who is always on edge, waiting!”

Sharff, a resident of West Palm Beach, Florida, didn’t set out to become a mechanic at the US Open and other pro and college wheelchair tennis events. When he became paralyzed and a wheelchair user after a car accident in 1999 at age 16, the now 42-year-old Sharff, who competes in paratriathlons around the world representing Team USA, discovered that the only source of sports equipment was medical supply companies. “You had to get your chair in the same place that sold catheters and hospital beds!” He began thinking, “How cool would it be if adaptive sports equipment could be sold in its own place?!” Sharff, who already owned the internet domain name howiroll.com—where he was blogging and sharing photos for what he describes as the “newly injured,” left his 9 to 5 job as a production coordinator at a tea company to start his own company in 2013. He reports, “20 to 25% of our business is international—I have sold to the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand!”

Several years ago, Sharff was approached to work at several university wheelchair tennis events and other USTA (United States Tennis Association) events. The USTA reports that it is “dedicated to providing top-flight programming and developmental opportunities to wheelchair athletes of all ages and backgrounds“ and invest in tournaments and player development.

Sharff can’t wait to be back in New York next year!